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11 Thus says Yahweh, the holy one of Israel,
and its maker:[a]
“Ask me of the things to come about[b] my children,
and you command me about the work of my hands.
12 I myself made the earth,
and I created humankind upon it.
I, my hands, stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.
13 I myself have stirred him up in righteousness,
and I will make all his paths smooth.
He himself shall build my city,
and he shall set my exiles free,
not for price or a gift,” says Yahweh of hosts.
Yahweh the Only Savior
14 Thus says Yahweh:
“The acquisition of Egypt
and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, tall men,
shall pass over to you;
they shall be yours,
and they shall walk behind you.
They shall pass over in chains,
and they shall bow down to you;
they will pray to you:
‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other.
Besides him there is no God.’”
15 Surely you are a God who keeps yourself hidden,
God of Israel, the savior.
16 All of them are ashamed and indeed humiliated;
the craftsmen of idols go together in insult.
17 Israel is saved by Yahweh with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be ashamed,
and you shall not be humiliated to all eternity.[c]
18 For thus says Yahweh, who created[d] the heavens,
he is God, who formed[e] the earth
and who made[f] it.
He himself established it;
he did not create it as emptiness—
he formed it for inhabiting.
“I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.
19 I have spoken not in secrecy, in a place, a land, of darkness,
I have not said to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain!’[g]
I, Yahweh, am speaking righteousness,
declaring uprightness.
20 Assemble and come;
draw near together, survivors of the nations!
They do not know, those who carry their wooden idols[h]
and pray to a god who cannot save.
21 Declare and present your case,
also let them consult together!
Who made this known[i] from former times,[j]
declared it from of old?[k]
Was it not I, Yahweh?
And there is no other god besides me,
a righteous God besides me,
and no savior besides me.
22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth,
for I am God and there is none besides me.
23 I have sworn by myself;
a word that[l] shall not return has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness:
‘Every knee shall kneel down to me;
every tongue shall swear.’
24 ‘Only in Yahweh,’ one shall say to me, ‘are righteousness and strength.’
He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed.
25 In Yahweh all the offspring of Israel shall be in the right,
and they shall boast.”
Babylon’s Idols
46 Bel bows down;
Nebo is stooping.
Their idols are on[m] animals[n] and on[o] cattle;
your cargo[p] is carried as a burden on[q] weary animals.
2 They stoop;
they bow down together.
They are not able to save the burden,
but[r] they themselves go[s] in captivity.
3 “Listen to me, house of Jacob,
and all the remnant of the house of Israel
who have been carried from the belly,
who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even[t] to your old age I am he;
even[u] to your advanced age I myself will support you.
I myself have made you,
and I myself will carry you,
and I myself will support you,
and I will save you.
5 To whom will you liken me,
and count as equal,
and compare with me,
as though[v] we were alike?
6 Those who lavish gold from the purse
and weigh out silver in the balance scales;
hire a goldsmith[w]
and he makes him a god;
they bow down,
indeed they bow in worship.
7 They carry it on their shoulder;
they support it and they set it in its place,
and it stands in position.
It cannot be removed from its place;
even when he cries out to it, it does not answer.
It does not save him from his trouble.
8 Remember this and pluck up courage!
Call to mind,[x] you transgressors!
9 Remember the former things from a long time ago,[y]
for I am God and there is none besides me,
God and there is none like me,
10 who from the beginning declares the end,
and from before, things that have not been done,
who says, ‘My plan shall stand,’
and, ‘I will accomplish[z] all my wishes,’[aa]
11 who calls a bird of prey from the east,
the man of his[ab] plan from a country from afar.
Indeed I have spoken; indeed I will bring it to being.
I have formed it; indeed I will do it.
12 Listen to me, strong of heart,
far from righteousness!
13 I bring my righteousness near; it is not far.
And my salvation will not delay;
and I will put[ac] salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”
Babylon’s Fall
47 Come down and sit on the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon!
Sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of Chaldea!
For they shall no longer call[ad] you tender and delicate.
2 Take the pair of mill stones and grind flour!
Uncover your veil,
strip off your skirt,
uncover your thigh,
pass through the rivers!
3 Your nakedness shall be exposed;
indeed, your shame shall become visible.
I will take vengeance
and I will not spare[ae] a person.
4 Our redeemer, Yahweh of hosts is his name, the holy one of Israel.
5 Sit silently and go into the darkness, daughter of Chaldea,
for they shall no longer call[af] you mistress of kingdoms.
6 I was angry with my people;
I profaned my inheritance,
and I gave them into your hand.
You did not give[ag] them mercy;
on the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 And you said, “I shall be an eternal mistress forever!”
You did not set these things upon your heart;
you did not remember its end.
8 Therefore now hear this, luxuriant one who sits[ah] in security,
who says[ai] in her heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.
I shall not sit as a widow,
and I shall not know the loss of children.”
9 And these two shall come to you in a moment, in one day:
the loss of children and widowhood shall come on you completely,[aj]
in spite of your many sorceries,
in spite of the power of your great enchantments.
10 And you felt secure in your wickedness;
you said, “No one[ak] sees[al] me.”
Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,
and you said in your heart, “I am, and besides me there is no one.”
11 And evil shall come upon you, you will not know;
it will be on the lookout for her.
And disaster shall fall upon you; you will not be able to avert[am] it.
And ruin shall come on you suddenly; you do not know.
12 Stand, now, in your enchantments,
and in your many sorceries with which you have labored from your youth.
Perhaps you may be able to benefit;
perhaps you may scare away.[an]
13 You struggle with your many consultations;[ao]
let them stand, now, and save you—
those who see the stars, divide the celestial sphere,[ap]
who inform by new moons—
from those things that are coming upon you.
14 Look! They are like stubble;
the fire burns them completely.
They cannot deliver themselves[aq] from the power[ar] of the flame;
there is no coal for warming oneself,[as]
no fire before which to sit.
15 So are to you those with whom you have labored,
your traders from your youth.
They wander, each to his side;
there is no one who can save you.
Yahweh Refines Stubborn Israel
48 Hear this, house of Jacob,
who are called by the name of Israel
and came out from the waters of Judah,
who swear by the name of Yahweh,
and invoke[at] the God of Israel,
but not in truth
and not in righteousness.
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,[au]
and they lean on the God of Israel—
Yahweh of hosts is his name.
3 “I declared the former things from of old,[av]
and they went out from my mouth.
And I announced[aw] them suddenly;
I acted,[ax] and they came to pass,
4 because I know[ay] that you are obstinate,
and your neck an iron sinew,
and your forehead bronze.
5 And I declared them to you from of old;
I announced[az] them to you before they came to pass
so that you would not say, ‘My idol did them,
and my image and my cast image commanded them.’
6 You have heard; see it all.
And will you not declare it?
I announce[ba] new things to you from this time
and hidden things that[bb] you have not known.
7 Now they are created, and not from of old,[bc]
and before today, and you have not heard them
so that you could not say, “Look! I knew them.”
8 Neither have you heard, nor have you known,
nor from of old[bd] has your ear been opened.
For I knew you would deal treacherously, very treacherously,
and you are called a rebel from the womb.
9 For the sake of my name I refrain from[be] my anger,
and for my praise I restrain it for you
so as not to cut you off.
10 Look! I have refined you, but[bf] not like[bg] silver;
I have chosen you in the furnace of misery.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake I do it;
for why should it[bh] be defiled?
And I will not give my glory to another.”
Christians Should Live in Unity
4 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to live in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called: 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, 3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; 4 one body and one Spirit (just as also you were called with one hope of your calling), 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.
Gifted Leaders Bring the Church to Maturity
7 Now to each one of us was given this grace, according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8 Therefore it says,
“Ascending on high he led captivity captive;
he gave gifts to men.”[a]
9 Now “he ascended,” what is it, except that he also descended[b] to the lower regions of the earth? 10 The one who descended himself is also the one who ascended above all the heavens, in order that he might fill all things.
11 And he himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers 12 for the equipping of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to a measure of the maturity of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow into him with reference to all things, who is the head, Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined together and held together by every supporting ligament, according to the working by measure of each single part, the growth of the body makes for the building up of itself in love.
19 Blessed be the Lord. Daily he loads us with benefits,[a]
the God of our salvation.[b] Selah
20 Our God is a God of deliverances,
and to the Yahweh the Lord belong escapes from death.
21 But God will shatter the head of his enemies,
the hairy scalp of the one who continues on[c] in his guilt.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 so that your foot may shatter them bloody
for the tongues of your dogs to have their share from the enemies.”
24 They have seen your processions, O God,
the processions of my God, my king, distinctive in victory.[d]
25 Singers went up front, those playing stringed instruments last,
between them young women playing tambourines.
26 Bless God in the assemblies,
Yahweh from the fountain of Israel.
27 There is little Benjamin ruling them,
with the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Your God has commanded your strength.
Show yourself strong, O God, by what you perform[e] for us.
29 Because your temple is above Jerusalem,
kings will bring tribute to you.
30 Rebuke the beasts in[f] the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
trampling the pieces of silver.[g]
Scatter the nations who delight in battles.
31 Ambassadors[h] will come from Egypt;
Cush will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praise to the Lord, Selah
33 to the one who rides in the highest heavens of old.
See, he gives forth his voice, a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe strength to God.
His majesty is over Israel,
and his strength is in the clouds.
35 Awesome are you, O God, from your sanctuary.[i]
The God of Israel, it is he who gives strength and might to the people.
Blessed be God.
3 By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established.
4 And by knowledge, rooms are filled
with all riches, precious and pleasant.
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